• BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      4 months ago

      There is nothing wrong with regulating vices, but not because they are offensive to God, that’s just stupid superstition.

      The reason to regulate vices is because they tend to be addicting and destructive, and there are many immoral people who will deliberately addict as many people as possible, just to shake the Almighty Profits out of their pockets.

      I don’t care about that when it’s voluntary - nobody is addicted to buying a new car, or a new couch, that’s a personal choice. But when they have been enticed into becoming ADDICTED by marketing and advertising, the choice is no longer theirs, and they are spending money they don’t really want to because a corporation got them literally addicted through shrewd and effective advertising.

      I have noticed that Matthew Broderick is now doing commercials for a new gambling app that uses Candy Crush type games to gamble instead sports or cards, and they are aiming it at middle aged women. Worse, they are aiming it at UNSATISFIED women. The ads show women with adult children who have moved back in, with husbands, or children, who won’t pay attention to them, etc. They are aiming at older women who feel unfulfilled in life, and encouraging them to feel better by playing a video game that is barely disguised gambling.

      It’s not enough that they are addicting young men to sports gambling, now they’ve identified a new demographic - unhappy middle-aged women, many of whom control the household finances. It’s only a matter of time before we hear about families losing their home because mom gambled away the mortgage.

      Vices need to be regulated to keep the Corporate Predatory Parasites under control, or they will eventually enslave ALL of us.

      • someguy3@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        That’s the logical argument, but that’s not why we have liquor laws. Think way back when, it started with religious anti-drinking. Think prohibition, that was all rooted in religion. But when prohibition failed they had to settle on strict control.

        Funny thing now is that as the right loses its “real” religion and becomes “gubment bad” they want looser liquor laws, and now its the left that wants the logical liquor control. But the current laws still came around from way back when.

        The reason for gambling laws was to keep the money out of gangs.

  • Tango@piefed.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    39
    ·
    4 months ago

    I must say, this Mamdani fellow seems to be having a lot of success very quickly. One has to wonder why nobody ever tried any of this before. Can it really be that the switch to using Ranked Choice Voting in NY primaries made THAT much of a difference in the type of candidate that made it through?

    • qarbone@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      4 months ago

      I think, for the longest time, the mayors have just been in on the racket. If you don’t ruffle feathers, the rich keep schmoozing you. Just keep your head down.

      I think it’s always been that “easy”; they just didn’t care to do it.

      • nickiwest@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        4 months ago

        There’s a certain type of person who sees politics as a route to personal enrichment. That type is present in both major parties in the US, and probably the minor ones as well.

  • jaschen@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    33
    ·
    4 months ago

    Is the fire department socialism? Everyone pays for a service/insurance that 99.9% people might never use, but want to have in case some shit went down. Why does nobody think this is socialism is beyond me.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      4 months ago

      Doubt it. We just don’t know how’s he’s enriching himself with that yet.

  • darthsundhaft@piefed.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    24
    ·
    4 months ago

    Funny how they also don’t say a peep about Mitch shit bag basically using our tax money to pay his healthcare… in essence, something we pay for–all while not having to go to work for weeks on end. Something the rest of us would not be privileged to have. Fucking wanker.

  • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    4 months ago

    The next time they call you ‘Socialist’ ask them to explain how the Homestead Act wasn’t Socialism.

    • MisterFrog@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      4 months ago

      I’m not from the US and hadn’t heard of this. But are we arguing it WAS socialism?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Acts

      From my very cursory reading of the above, seems like imperialism handing out indigenous land to settlers, no?

      In conclusion, I’m saying this definitely does not look like socialism to me. Socialism is democratic control over society by the workers, and the Homestead Acts (from my cursoru understanding) don’t seem to be that. Just maybe the tiniest bit better than having massive slave operated holdings by oligarchs.

      • pedantichedgehog@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        4 months ago

        I think that they’re implying that people likely to argue that state-controlled stores are socialist are also likely to conflate any service or good offered by the state is socialism.

        In the US, “socialism” is both demonized and the actual definition is obfuscated by right-wing (read: most) media in the same way other terms are, such as “woke”. This alienates the average person in the US from movements, policies, organizations, etc that would benefit them, from free school lunch programs to socialist representatives running on taxing the wealthy.

      • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        4 months ago

        Yes, my comment was very US centric.

        First, the Homestead Act gave land to a lot of people who were tenant farmers. It enraged the rich folks who saw their profits go down, and it was a boon to the ancestors of a lot of the MAGAs. They’ll crow about how their great grandparents came in covered wagons and ignore the fact that they couldn’t have afforded the land if it wasn’t for a government program.

        Second, in my opinion, all political labels are meaningless outside the classroom. There are billionaires in the Chinese Communist Party and North Korea calls itself a Democratic Republic.

        I’ve literally had this conversation with some of my fellow americans.

        Them = All Socialist states fail!

        Me = What about the Scandinavian countries?

        Them = They aren’t really Socialist.

        Me = So, we can have their health care system?

        Them = [Usually silence, sometimes and explanation that it only works there because the population is not as diverse as america.]

        • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          4 months ago

          all political labels are meaningless outside the classroom.

          This is the real truth. None of the world’s governments are what they claim to be. All of them have taken a basic foundation, and then added various things from various systems until every government in the world is some Frankenstein’s Monster of bureaucracy.

          We’re supposed to be a Democracy, or a Republic, or a Democratic Republic, or something, who knows, but a lot of the best stuff in America is straight up Socialist, like parks, schools, libraries, museums, roads, bridges, etc.

          Fire Departments are one of the best examples of American Socialism. In the olden days, if you owned a building, you’d buy fire insurance from a local fire brigade, and they’d give you a “fire mark,” a cast iron medallion, that you would attach to your building. That proved that you were paid up, and if your building caught fire, they’d show up to put it out. If you weren’t paid up, they’d show up to watch your building burn, unless you paid.

          Eventually, they replaced the profit-making fire fighting system with a municipal fire fighting system, paid for by ALL the citizens, to benefit ALL the citizens, and not just those with enough money to pay. Same with public schools, roads, bridges, etc. Much of the best of America is already Socialist.

          NONE of the world’s governments adhere to the political philosophy they claim to follow, except in the most basic ways. Whatever labels they apply to their own systems, or the systems of others, is meaningless propaganda. There are no Socialist, Communist, or Democratic nations. They are all mixed systems, that exist more by evolution than design.

  • FlexibleToast@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    19
    ·
    4 months ago

    They should embrace that. Yes, it is socialism. Socialism is how you get these good things for the community. Stop treating the word Socialism like it’s scary and own it.

  • BlueFootedPetey@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    4 months ago

    PA also has state run liquor stores. I always thought Ohio was the only other state.

    Anywhoots, yea I think that is a good thing. And not just because it eases people into seeing how socialism is a good thing.

    • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      4 months ago

      NH has them too, and it’s some of the cheapest prices around. One of the biggest stores is right on the state line because people from MA cross the border to buy booze cheap.

      It’s also the only place in the area that doesn’t have legal pot, and the theory is that lawmakers keep rejecting it until it’s federally legal because they want to make tax money on it just like they’ve done with liquor. Problem is that it doesn’t look like the feds are getting on board any time soon, and being the “live free or die” state with the only place with no weed when all the places its border touches have it is kind of embarrassing.

        • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          4 months ago

          Yeah it’s pretty stupid. It’s like they’re not satisfied with just taxing it because they want to be the only game in town. Anyway for such a “libertarian” state it’s got some problems.

      • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        4 months ago

        the theory is that lawmakers keep rejecting it until it’s federally legal because they want to make tax money on it

        That makes no sense, because other states tax it when they sell it. If it’s legal to be sold in the state, why wouldn’t they be able to tax it?

      • NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        Washington DC maybe I don’t know.

        But as someone aware with Costco pushing hard to sell liquor and Costco being centered in Washington state, I would imagine they have pushed the legislation through by now.

      • BlueFootedPetey@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        4 months ago

        Wow fuck. When i went thro training they literally told me ohio was only other one, maybe its a licensing vs operating thing?

        I do recall being in NC and their stores being called abc. Thats not a PA thing tho, we have plcb. (Commercial name FWGS, fine wine and good spirits).

        I aint doubting yous, just surprised.

      • titanicx@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        4 months ago

        Wyoming may have state run stores. The majority are not, but it’s up to the city and county to decide how they sell them. In one county I can go into Walmart and purchase liquor. In another it’s only liquor stores, in another the gas station sells liquor based slushies.

            • titanicx@lemmy.zip
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              4 months ago

              Every time I drive through Evanston always have to stop at the Maverik that has them. It’s the only one that I’ve ever seen that has it and it’s fantastic.

    • Polyphilic@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      4 months ago

      Canada has a mix.

      Alberta is fully private, BC is mixed, Ontario is mainly government with carve out private owned store for breweries, Quebec is mixed.

      • Caption@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        4 months ago

        Fair enough. I’m not Canadian. I was going by Trailer Park Boys, which takes place in Nova Scotia.

            • Caption@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              4 months ago

              It came out yearrrsss before this where he either sexually assaulted a girlfriend or beat her up. I forget which. I also know he is the reason Lucy left , and some theorize J to the R O C left for the same reason.

              Honestly, just Google a picture of Mike Smith not dressed as Bubbles. You can see the pure scum radiating off of him. I always felt something was really off/dark about him ever since the very first time I saw him out of costume. Some people it just… I dont know. Its like you can smell their depravity just by looking at a picture.

  • Habahnow@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    4 months ago

    how do liquor stores work in Alabama? would a customer tell the difference between a liquor store in bama vs another state?

    • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      I don’t know about Alabama, but Pennsylvania also has state-owned liquor stores. For PA, you can get beer and wine in a lot of places, including gas stations, supermarkets, and beer stores. However, if you want hard liquor, you have to go to specific stores just for that. If you go to a beer store looking for rum, you’ll be out of luck.

      ETA: Only certain licensed gas stations sell beer and it differs by local laws, so YMMV.

      • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        4 months ago

        For PA, you can get beer and wine in a lot of places

        When I first moved here nearly 20 years ago, this was not the case. You could only buy beer at special stores where you could only buy it by the case, or you could buy individual six-packs to take home at bars and taverns. Wine was only available from the state-run stores along with the hard liquor (and this is still the case for the hard stuff). Coming from a state that had fucking drive-thru daiquiri shops, this was hard to accept.

        • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          4 months ago

          Louisiana? Those drive-thru daiquiri shops blew my mind. I had been told that leaving a bit of paper on the straw counts as a “seal,” but when I went to one I didn’t even get a paper on the straw.

          • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            4 months ago

            When I lived there it was a piece of scotch tape holding the lid on. Because removing a piece of scotch tape is just too complex a technical task to possibly be accomplished in a car.

            I guess drive-thru daiquiri shops aren’t any more egregious than bars with parking lots.

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        4 months ago

        Last time I tried that, they limited me to two 6 packs of beer. Mother-fucker, I’m not drinking this all tonight, but I like this brewery and won’t be back for a year or more.

        Do they still do that?

      • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        4 months ago

        For PA, you can get beer and wine in a lot of places, including gas stations, supermarkets, and beer stores.

        Has this changed recently?

        Because my understanding was that no, you absolutely cannot get it at gas stations.

        You can sometimes find them in grocery stores, but that’s a loophole and only works if the store sells hot food (usually buffet style) so they can classify the separate POS as a restaurant with a liquor license.

        And if you want more than a 12 pack of beer, you have to go to a “Beer Distributor”. A separate store that only sells cases of beer.

        Aside from the grocery stores who have gone through the legal loopholes (it’s far from all of them), you can only get wine from the state stores that only sell wine and liquor (no beer).

        It’s stupid. Remnants from prohibition.

    • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      4 months ago

      To the best of my knowledge, not significantly.
      The state I live in has a monopoly on the wholesale of liquor. The only difference you can tell is that liquor has the same price in every store. It can’t go on sale or be discounted or used in promotions.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      4 months ago

      When I was kid in Ohio, I would sometimes go into the state-operated liquor store with my dad when we were running errands. There was one bottle of each product on display behind glass, with a number, and you’d write down the numbers of all your selections, and give them to a guy at a counter, also behind glass, like a bank teller. He’d go get your bottles, and you’d pay and leave.

      I was just a kid, and even I could see that this was an inefficient and stupid way to run a retail operation. At some point they changed the law, and regular retail liquor stores became legal, and state run stores disappeared. You could buy beer and wine at grocery stores, gas stations, etc., but hard liquor was only at liquor stores.

      I was an adult when the switch happened, and I was friendly with my favorite store to buy beer. They got one of the first licenses to sell hard liquor, and when he told me, I said “Oooh, you’re gonna get RICH!” and he just gave me the biggest smile I think I’ve ever seen.